YIELD YOURSELF UNTO GOD

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

PRACTICING THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD’S PRESENCE

The law came by Moses, but grace came by Jesus. See John 1:17- For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Grace came by salvation but is sustained by intimacy. Grace is limited by sin but enhanced by holiness. In Romans 6:1, the Apostle

Paul asked, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” He responded thus in the second verse, “God forbid”. Grace is obtained in God’s presence. He is the domain of grace. It means, therefore, that for you to enjoy grace to the fullest, you must be a resident of His presence. In Hebrews 4:16, the bible says: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. If you do not come into His presence, then you will not obtain grace and mercy.

In today’s scripture, we are admonished not to yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but to yield our members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

The word “yield” used in this scripture is from the Greek word, “Paristemi” and it means to stand by, stand with, stand before, to be in the awareness of. Yielding yourself, therefore, means living in the awareness of something. It means standing by, standing with or standing before the subject of your yielding.

We are admonished not to yield ourselves to sin. Do not present yourself before sin. Do not stay where sin can entice or influence you. Do not use your mind to meditate on sin. Do not ponder on sin. Do not yield your members to sin: your eyes, your ears, your mouth, your mind, etc. Do not stay in the environment where sin can easily be committed; an environment of absence of God’s presence.

An environment of absence of God’s presence is the only conducive environment for sin. Do not yield yourself to such an environment. But yield yourself unto God- be with God, beside God, in awareness of God, etc. This is the only thing you do so that sin will not have dominion over you. When you dwell constantly in the awareness of God’s presence, then you are yielding yourself and your members to God. You will see, hear and act right in such an atmosphere.

When you do this, you present yourself as those who are alive from the dead. A dead man does not commit sin. The lure of sin has no effect on a dead man. That is how it becomes when you yield yourself to God. As you stand by, stand with and stand before God constantly, your members become dead to sin. This is the only thing you do for sin not to have dominion over you. As long as you do not do this, then sin will have dominion over you.